"What do you mean I can't keep them?" Now I was getting pissed.

It all started a few hours ago. Granger's was having its annual company picnic. Since about ten percent of the local population works there, and almost everyone else is related to someone that works there, well over half the town was in the park. Even in tough times, Mr. Granger paid for the whole thing, from his own pocket, not company entertainment money. If a few extra people showed up for the free eats, he had no problem with it. He always made sure that the kids that had limited family support were invited somehow. The schoolteachers were in on it, giving various awards throughout the school year that just happened to get the kids an official invite. The Confederacy says that he did not actually arrange the mass pickup, but he apparently gave them a pretty big hint somehow.

I should probably introduce myself. I'm Clint Hooper. I'm twenty-nine, single and I have a CAP score of 7.6. I worked for Granger's. Heck, I owe my life to Mr. Granger, both figuratively and literally, but that's getting ahead of myself. I got a company scholarship to college for my mechanical engineering degree. I had to pay off with one year of working within fifty miles of town for each year of funding. Not necessarily at Granger's, mind you. Just in the area. I got a job there anyway. I guess that you can tell that I have a bit of hero worship going on here. Hey, if the shoe fits. Granger's made specialty machine tools and parts. We filled a pretty good niche, but the business was slowly changing and with the new Confederacy technologies, we were in danger of going under. My guess is that he set it all up to get his people out. His 'people' being the entire town, if possible. The schools had the little kids practicing some special sports and competitions. He announced a contest in those for the same day as the picnic. Cash prizes were offered, but you had to have an adult with you. If that adult wasn't the parent, they had to have a signed paper, which just happened to give that adult custody in certain situations, including... Oh, you guessed.

Anyway, there we were. Nearly three thousand adults and who knows how many kids. Mr. Granger stepped up on the bandstand and thanked everyone for coming. Then he announced that the Marines had landed and we were having a pick-up. We looked around and sure enough, Marines. Interdiction fields went up around the entire park. There was what I am told was an entire company of Marines there, one hundred fifty four counting the Navy corpsmen. That's medics for you army types. Mr. Granger stayed on the bandstand and kept things calm. He used the PA system to say we should be a bit discreet because of all the kids. Things were being set up for locations to get to know strangers in an intimate fashion. That didn't last long, but it was a nice thought.

I'm single and my entire family is my older sister, Shelby, thirty-five now, my niece, Angel, thirteen, my nephews Max, ten, and Todd is five. Shelby got rid of the lump of alcohol soaked fat that her husband turned into. We do actually have another branch of the family. Our cousin Veronica is thirty-nine. She has a little girl as well. Brittany is thirteen too. Veronica looks just like the Veronica from the old Archie comics. Well, a thirty nine year old version. Long black hair, relatively slim, kind of stuck up looking but she really isn't.

My first priority of course was to see if Shelby was going to have any problems with finding a ride off planet. I asked her and here is her answer, verbatim. "No problem, Clint. We're going with you," and then she took her clothes off.

Now you have to understand. I have had hard-ons over my big sister since I was twelve, at least. It took me almost eight years to realize that she had STAGED most of my 'accidental' looks at her. When she was seventeen and I was twelve, she would step into the hallway and bump into me. Her robe was mostly open so that I saw her bra and panties. On later occasions there was nothing under the robe. I would walk down the hall and her door would be open a bit. She would grab it open just as I was about to pass, stand there, hands on her hips, feet spread and say, "What were you looking at, brat?" She was nearly nude, of course. She would stare me down and dare me to look at her. Then she would slam the door in my face. I always heard strange noises after these incidents. Later I figured out that she had been masturbating over the incident. As I grew up, it was more of the fleeting glance as she streaked from bathroom to bedroom as I walked down the hall, or vice versa. Occasionally I heard a quick, "forgot my robe!"

So, there I was. A not incredibly experienced guy with no current girl friend and my stacked sister is dropping to her knees in front of me. Now, she's no supermodel, but she was better looking than many women her age. She had decent C-cups, sagging a bit from their weight and three kids, a nice ass, decent legs, and reddish gold hair. And she had one other thing. Angel. My thirteen-year-old niece, Angel, had tossed her top off and was getting rid of her bra. Shelby was unbuckling my belt and telling Angel what they were going to do. Did I mention that I tried to back up, but there was a table behind me and I was trapped? So I protested. I protested while my pants were being unfastened. I protested while they dropped to their knees. I protested when Shelby started a blowjob. And I blew my wad all over poor Angel when she took over for two licks. Angel promptly cleaned everything up, while Shelby complained that that was no way to train Angel, and did I really want some fat smelly, stranger being her (Angel's) first, and didn't I want her (Shelby), and she had wanted me to sleep with her since I turned fifteen, and didn't I LIKE her and Angel and.... I folded. Well, Duh! As if I had EVER won an argument with Shelby.

"Ok! Ok! Ok! I'll take you. (I swear I said that, but I did NOT sound like Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 3, or was that Lethal Weapon 2. At least, I hope I didn't.)

So then I had a naked woman and a half naked girl hugging me. "Get dressed," I said

"Are you ashamed of us?" By now Angel was down to her panties.

"Stop. Ok, Angel keeps the panties on. She's only thirteen after all, not a concubine. Put your flip-flops back on and carry your undies and t-shirt. The sun is out. And bring that sunscreen. Angel, keep Mikie and Paula with you."

We got collected and I took three steps when Shelby asks where I am going. Since I have no clue I say, "Over there," pointing at a good-sized clump of people in the direction that I was moving.

"But Veronica is over here." Five minutes later I am test-driving Veronica. My second cousin Brittany is helping. Veronica is riding cowgirl and Brit has a small breast shoved into my mouth. Well, that didn't last long. This means, of course, that I didn't last long. And then Brittany and Angel shared cleanup duties on me.

"Ok, do you have any other plans for me?" Silly me, of course they did. About now is when I got a card reader from the Marines. Shelby's readout was a shock. Well she shouldn't have been. She had a dominant streak, great parenting numbers and a REALLY high set of sex scores. She was lower in technical skills, physical aggression and other things. Her scores were all over the map, but she averaged out to a straight 5.0. Veronica was similar, but not as extreme, and she had a net 4.9.

So now we came to Shelby and Veronica's friend Vanessa. This time I checked the card before I got raped. She had a 5.2, with lower intelligence than the other two, but most of the other things were higher. Well not the sex, that was just below Shelby's. Vanessa was black, or more correctly, light brown with fine features and curly black hair. Tallish, and a medium build with less breasts than Shelby, but more than Veronica. Of course she had a thirteen-year-old girl as well. I stared at Shelby when they told me her age, but she just said, "They're classmates. We met at PTSA." I started in a missionary position this time, but I ended up with Vanessa's ankles on my shoulders, plunging away for dear life. After the mandatory teenager cleanup from Jade, I decided to get up on my hind legs and stand up to the tyrant.

"Shelby, if you don't mind, I want to find my own girl for the last one. No offense ladies. You are all great and I'm glad we got together."

"Of course, Clint. You're in charge, obviously."

'Yeah, right,' I thought.

Then I saw a friend of mine from work. Karen was a cute little curly haired blonde thing of about twenty. She was petite, friendly, and I knew she was single, with NO KIDS. I walked over and got her attention. It makes a man feel proud in a circumstance like that when a very cute, very naked female takes one look at you, wearing just your sandals and boxer briefs, runs up to you, hugs you and says, "Clint! Oh thank goodness. Can I join your harem?"

"Sure, I just need to check your Card. Yup. You're in. I need to have you right now, if you don't mind."

So, my roster was full. I pulled Karen down and made sure she tasted as good as she looked. As we got up, I heard her say, "Kids? We're leaving." She had one of those papers giving her custody of her brother's kids. Luckily she didn't have a thirteen-year-old girl. She had twelve-year-old twins. One boy, one girl and they were already stripping when I finished licking their aunt. At least the boy was looking at the other girls rather than me while he stripped.

"Stop. Twelve-year-olds stay dressed. Period. End of story. Spankings will ensue."

Shelby was no help here. I heard her voice saying, "A spanking! A spanking!"

Then Veronica chimed in. "We shall ALL be spanked!" She had that accent down pat on the 'all'.

I knew one of them would not disappoint. Yup. Vanessa threw in the kicker. "And then, The Oral Sex!"

Blasted Monty Python addicts. They should be banned. Well, at least the kids' clothes went back on.

So, I had my Harem. I grumbled and groaned, but I figured it was a good group. I decided to head to the bandstand and thank Mr. Granger for all he had done for me.

When we arrived I noticed that there was a small transporter set up near the back of the bandstand. I had the girls form up near it so we could leave as soon as I talked to him. I had to check in with the Marines first. They asked me if I wanted the four women. I said I did, if I could take them and all of their children to the colony as well. The Marines said no problem and the AI used a nearby speaker to say {Acknowledged}. I found Mr. Granger with his own Harem. Funny, but I had never even thought that he might be a Volunteer. He had a 7.9 and got four Harem members, the same as I had. He had a couple of good-looking twenty somethings, and Mrs. Pelsham, who was his current admin assistant. She was also widely reputed to be his mistress. Everyone knew that they were close, and her husband had moved out of town ten years ago, but she had had two kids since then. However, it was Mr. Granger and so the kids wanted for nothing. No one said a bad word about him or her. The surprising Harem member was Emily, his daughter. She was still fully dressed, as was Mrs. Pelsham. The twenty somethings were stripped and looked as if they had recently seen some action. I heard someone off to the side saying something about test-driving and both Samantha Pelsham and Emily Granger got the same smug little smiley look. Well, well, well!

I started my thank-yous and he was taking it like I expected. Humble. You've repaid it many times over, etc.

I'll never know exactly what he saw. Mr. Granger was a Vietnam War veteran. Ex Marines, but he always said there are no EX Marines. What I do know is his eyes widened as he looked past me and he yelled "GUN!!" as he shoved me into his daughter and to the ground. Then all hell broke loose.

The Marines were shooting and getting shot. One of the twenty somethings went down. I yelled, from the ground, to my girls. "Crawl to the portal." Yeah, it's not really a portal, but that's what they call them on TV and everyone knew what I meant. I shoved on Emily's ass and pushed her towards the portal.

She cried out "Daddy's hurt." I looked and he was down with blood on his face and chest.

I got to him and he said one sentence. "Clint, take care of my girls." I heard the words {Acknowledged.} Then he died. Oh, we grabbed him and rushed through the transporter and they got him to the medical systems in less than a minute, but the hit on his face did too much damage to the brain. He stroked out and there was just too much brain damage too fast.

The after-action report that I saw, said that some Earth Firsters had found out about or suspected the pickup. They had preplanted some weapons in the park toilets, in a couple of trees, under the merry go round, etc. Everywhere except on their people. The drones were monitoring people as they arrived and the only weapons were on police and other people that were deemed safe. They had all been quietly disarmed in the very beginning. Things got pretty far along pickup-wise, because it took a while for all of the bad guys to get in position. They all drew at once. Thirty bad guys, all dead or captured. There were over seventy friendly casualties, including two dead Marines, seventeen dead volunteers, and several dead concubines. The bad guys were gunning for the volunteers. The drone replay of the bandstand showed that Mr. Granger shoved me out of the direct line of fire and that gunman was the one that killed him.

The Marines had mounted some stingers on the drones and one of the naval types piloting it had just sprayed everybody in the park, so the Marines quickly controlled the field. They got all of the remaining EFs and after an AI interrogation, they were all fertilizer. The wounded were patched up. Harems were sorted out and the incident was over. Yeah, right!

After all the excitement of trying to save him, and the heartbreak of learning that he was gone, we were all sitting there, comforting Emily, her kids and Mrs. Pelsham, Samantha, with her kids. The twenty something was Jennifer, and she was shaken up, but she didn't have the heavy emotional investment of the other two. Holly had died on the bandstand, but none of us really knew her. Mr. Granger, we all knew.

"What about us?" Margaret asked the Marine that had helped with Mr. Granger.

"You three and all of your kids belong to Mr. Hooper now. Your Sponsor willed them to him."

"Say WHAT?" Three more? And uhhm, five more kids?

{Actually, you are currently over the limit and you will have to find other options for three of them within forty-six hours and twenty-seven minutes} Since that voice came from the PA system, I figured it for the AI.

There happened to be several Marines in here with minor wounds. They were waiting for medical pods to open up. There was a low growly sound from several of them. I looked, but it seemed to be addressed to someone other than me. Some of them were looking up at the ceiling.

"Ok, wait. Explain this to me. How did I get them in the first place?"

The helpful Marine obliged. "Granger had his Harem, fair and square. We had already talked to him and as a U. S. Marine Corps combat vet; he was locked in to a NCO slot as soon as he finished Boot Camp. When he went down he specified that you should take his harem. Actually, his girls, was the term he used. But that's the same term we use. The AI verbally acknowledged that will and by doing so, transferred them to you. Now, the problem is that there is limited room on the transports so there are reasonably strict limits placed on the harem sizes. There is some flex but usually it is only one extra in special situations. Once you are on the colony you can theoretically have fifty or more. You are allowed four. You currently have seven. The reason that we are grumpy is that we figure you helped make the pickup on him, umm, the med-evac pickup that is. That is solidly within our traditions. And you aren't trying to get over; you just inherited. Wills are supposed to be binding."

"Ok, AI. So that's why I have seven. What justification do you have for taking them away from me?"

{You have too many, you can't keep them.}

"What do you mean I can't keep them?" Now I was getting pissed. "Give me a reason."

{There are limits and rules. You are in violation of the limit.}

About then, one of the Marines jumped up swearing like a trucker. Since he had a minor bullet wound in his arm, I figured he had bumped it. Nope.

"Sarge! That POS AI just told me I have to get rid of my wife!" This Marine, (I later found out that he was Lance Corporal Murphy) was INCENSED!

"Ok, wait." The helpful Marine was apparently Sarge. (Sgt Jefferson) "AI, Please explain that decision."

{Lance Corporal Murphy has five Concubines at his base. He is only allowed two. The concubine referred to as his wife is here on the transport and is the sixth. He must eliminate her from his Harem or eliminate four from those at the base.}

"What? I only took one on Pickup. I verified that it would be Ok to collect my Becky on this trip. She only brings me to two." LCPL Murphy had not really calmed down much, but he was sounding much less excited, and much more dangerous.

{PFC Joseph Henderson died three minutes ago. He left a will giving you his Harem. His four concubines will be moved to your pod immediately unless you eliminate them.}

"Sarge!" There was some despair in that voice.

"Hang on, I'm calling Top."

I decided that I had better ask a couple of quick questions. "AI, you seem to have made this decision already, but I have not even been completely briefed on the rules. Can we place the process on hold while I consult the rules and possibly talk to some type of advocate, or lawyer or something? I want to know my options thoroughly. I am certain that there is some actual specific language to these rules that I would like to look over." Not really, but I was stalling.

{Very well, we will split off an advocate to brief and represent you. The advocate will report as to the proper resumption time.}

"Uhh, split off? You mean that you will be representing both sides of the case?"

{Yes, that is the standard procedure. There can be no difference in knowledge or understanding of the facts. Do not worry. The human rules of confidentiality of counsel apply. The AI Advocate will not lie, even by omission, but it does not have to inform the opposition of stratagems or lines of enquiry, etc.}

"Ok, may I further suggest that my case and that of Lance Corporal Murphy's are similar and neither should be decided upon or continued with until they are both ready to go forward? I would be willing to share counsel, or advocacy if that is necessary."

{The issues are similar enough. That is reasonable. Agreed.}

The Marines were all definitely on my side, now.

The First Sergeant arrived. He was apparently called Top. I later found out that that was an informal title for any First Sergeant. It stood for Top Kick. Someone is in trouble, so he kicks the ass of his subordinate who kicks the ass of his subordinate and so on, until the guy at the bottom has no one lower to kick. Officers are too gentlemanly to kick people's asses, officially, so the senior NCO got to start the process. We all had to explain the problem again. He apparently decided to bump the problem upstairs. I got sent to my pod with my harem. All of them.

When we got to the pod, the door wouldn't open for anyone except me. The Pod would not even deign to notice anyone else. I had to give it specific instructions for the stupid thing to let them use the replicators for food. That took a while to work out. It was crowded, also. Supposedly, if I had over five concubines I got two adjacent pods, but since I was currently over my limit, I only got one. We also figured out really quick that the AI heard anything that was said in the pod.

"AI, is the Advocate available to talk to yet?"

{Yes.}

"Advocate?"

{{Yes?}} (Author's note: { } for AI, {{ }} for Advocate)

"Uhh, can you change your voice for the Advocate? I can't tell the difference." They were both pretty bland Midwest male voices.

{{Will this be sufficient?}} It was a female voice for this one. That suited.

"That's fine. Umm, let me go find a separate room." Emily, Margaret and the kids were still pretty shaky. I didn't want the next part done in front of them.

"Ok, I need to review the rules about Harem size, wills, and other relevant info, but first I would like to listen to any recordings of my agreements with the Harem members, Mr. Granger, and our conversations with the AI or the Marines. Oh, and can you please take over monitoring in this pod so that the Main AI is not overhearing everything?"

Two hours later I had a plan and the Advocate thought that it was a good one. I discussed Murphy's situation a bit, but as I was not he, I could not hear about his agreements. About then, the Commander of the Marine unit summoned me for a joint strategy session.

As I headed out, I informed the women of my destination. Jennifer pulled me aside. "Look, if it helps, I don't need to stay with the others. I can find someone else, I think. I bet other people lost concubines. You're nice, and I'd like to stay with you, but if you need to...."

"Thanks, Jennifer, but you just gave me another reason to try to keep you. I'll see what I can do." I gave her a quick kiss, my first contact with the new three, and I left.

The meeting was actually with Lieutenant Brisby, the company XO, which means the Executive Officer, as well as First Sergeant Pearson and or course, Murphy.

We discussed the issues and we went over the recordings. Then we listened to the relevant recordings for Murphy. Since they covered over a month of time, they were more extensive. We were just starting on the possible solution when the Advocate hit me again. I made some comment about how many concubines and kids I would have when I arrived on the colony.

{{No, Mr. Hooper. That is not correct. When the ship is approximately five days from the colony, one of your Harem's children, Brittany Hooper, will reach the age of fourteen. That will place you over your limit, again.}}

"Here we go again."

It was two days later that we all sat down for the hearing. It was held in a conference room in the central area of the ship. Brittany and her mother Veronica were both there with me. Also, Samantha Pelsham, Emily and Jennifer. Murphy and his concubine (wife), Becky, were there, as well as the First Sergeant, the Company Commander, and the Ship's Captain. Murphy and the Marines had asked me to speak for them as I had come up with the basic defense. The eleven of us were sitting at a large conference table, six to a side with the Captain at one end and a holodisplay projector in the center of the table.

The Captain called the meeting to order and asked the AI to state the situation.

{There are three separate issues to be resolved. Mr. Hooper is currently three concubines over the limit. He could be allowed to keep one, but two will need to be reallocated or removed. Lance Corporal Murphy is allowed two concubines but he has five at the colony. His ex-wife Becky Murphy brings him well over his allowable limit. She must be reallocated or removed or at least three at the colony must be reallocated or removed. The dependant Brittany is currently allowed, but as she will reach her anniversary date before the colony is reached, she will need to be reallocated or removed at that time.}

"Mr. Hooper, do you have a prepared defense?" prompted the Captain.

"Yes Sir, I will need to take them in a different order though. AI. First, it is my understanding that this hearing will be primarily judged similarly to contract law. Is that correct?"

{Yes. That will be the basis for judgment.}

"Thank you. Advocate? Could you please play Hooper Exhibit One?"

A holoview popped up and audio kicked in as we saw myself and my harem approach the bandstand. We watched as I went to check in with the Marines. They asked me if I wanted the four women. I said I did, if I could take them and all of their children to the colony as well. The Marines said no problem and the AI used a nearby speaker to say {Acknowledged.}

"Stop the playback. AI do you acknowledge that this is an accurate depiction of the time period in question?"

{Yes. It comes directly from my database}

"Very well. At the time, I asked the question because I had two children that were only mine due to the guardianship forms and I wanted to make sure there was no problem. I submit that you have previously acknowledged that I would be able to take all of my harem and all of the kids to the colony. If you take Brittany away from me, then you are in violation of the implications of your spoken contract." I waited for the moment that the AI took to ponder this.

{Agreed. Even though the dependent will legally become an adult before the journey's end, the contract implied that she would be treated as a child for the duration of the trip.}

"Ok, so I suggest a compromise. Brittany will be treated as a child for the duration. No full sex, no CAP testing and she does not become a member of my harem until we actually reach the colony. Do you agree?"

{This is acceptable.}

The mood in the room lightened a tiny bit. The decision had not changed the other four ladies' situations, but everyone thought it was a good sign.

"Ok, let's continue to Lance Corporal Murphy's situation. I submit that it is similar. Advocate? Please play back the selected data labeled Murphy Exhibits One through Six in the order that we previously determined."

The playbacks this time were occasionally only audio as they were communicator conversations between Murphy, his commander and the Colony AI. Basically, Murphy was getting permission to collect his wife as he had only transported one concubine to the colony. The last playback was of him presenting Becky and her card to the XO at an earlier pickup, where the AI acknowledged her as his concubine.

"AI, do you acknowledge that at that time, Becky was legitimately Murphy's concubine and he was authorized to transport her?"

{Yes.}

"Advocate, now play back Murphy Seven."

This time, the late PFC Henderson was seen making a verbal will leaving his harem to Murphy. Murphy was not in the scene.

"AI, was Murphy made aware of this will by you or by the colony AI?"

{No.}

"Do you have any recordings to suggest that Henderson, or anyone else ever told Murphy that he had made this will?"

"No."

"Do you have any information or recordings that indicate that Henderson discussed this with ANYONE besides you?"

{One recording exists that shows Henderson talking to a Civil Service Officer, but no names were given and the will was not yet made at that time.}

"Very well, would you be willing to stipulate that you made an agreement with Murphy to allow him to transport one additional concubine to the colony?"

{No.}

"No? Please explain."

{This agreement was made by the colony AI. However, I would have made the same agreement in the circumstances.}

"And that AI made a separate agreement for the care of Henderson's harem in the event of his death. Is that correct?"

{Yes.}

"Is it your judgment that a private agreement between two entities, Henderson and the colony AI, should override the agreement between Murphy and that same AI? Is that the way contract law works in the Confederacy?"

{No. The conflict should be resolved in a manner that does not adversely impact Lance Corporal Murphy. The additional harem members on the colony will be assigned elsewhere. The concubine Becky will be allowed to continue in his harem.}

"WRONG!" Murphy and the others had been warned about this possibility, but they were still startled when I shouted.

"Now you are breaking the agreement with Henderson. Henderson and Murphy have both entered into agreements with that AI in good faith. YOU are the one that is interpreting these agreements in the manner that causes you to break them. Henderson's harem is previously transported and so, does not count against Murphy's transport limits. You have the ability to just allow things to go on as they are. Becky goes to the colony and Henderson's harem joins Murphy's. What is important here is that no one is cheating or felt to be cheating. If the rules are broken, then morale will fall. No one here is going to feel that Murphy has tried to cheat. Instead, it is your conflict that is a problem. The Confederacy will be seen as attempting to take back what it previously granted in exchange for our assistance versus the Sa'arm."

{In that light, it does appear that agreements with the two parties have resulted in a situation that is in conflict with the rules.}

"Might I point out that if Becky had been back on the colony when Henderson had died, that there would be no conflict. Let Murphy and Becky go back before notifying the colony's AI. There is no need for the expense of a special call. This resolves the situation with the least disruption and no agreements are broken.

{That would be suitable. Granted.} Off to the side, Becky and Murphy were grinning and hugging. I heard Murphy say that he was going to have to name their next kid Clint. I hoped it was a boy.

"Ok, so that leaves us with one more issue. Mr. Granger's harem." I turned to the girls and apologized for having to show the next playbacks.

"Advocate, please play back Hooper Exhibit Two." The display came back to life and briefly showed Mr. Granger formally accepting the four women into his harem. "Advocate, now play Hooper Exhibit Three."

This one started almost where it had cut off after Exhibit One. It showed Mr. Granger spotting the gunman and shoving us down. It showed the rest of the firefight until we started crawling to the portal. Emily called out "Daddy's hurt" and we went back for him.

I got to him and he said that one final sentence. "Clint, take care of my girls."

Then we all heard the AI stating {Acknowledged.}

"End playback." Emily and Samantha were quietly crying in each other's arms. "AI, I assume you acknowledge that this is an accurate depiction."

{Yes.}

"So, once again, an AI, yourself, has entered into an agreement with a third party, in this case Mr. Granger, that puts a prior agreement with myself, at risk. I am referring of course to your agreement with me that lets me take all of my harem and children to the colony."

{Yes. That is the case.}

"So, you have committed me, without my consent, to taking care of his harem."

{Yes.}

"Very well, I would be willing to accept that duty, which would allow you to complete your agreement, as long as I can take BOTH harems. I made commitments to my current harem and I do not intend to fail in them. I have a moral debt to Mr. Granger that obligates me to care for his women. I am willing to accept the care of the Granger harem as long as it does not violate my previous commitment to my original harem. Is that understood?"

{Yes.}

"And is that an acceptable solution to you? I will take all seven of the women and all of the children."

{No, that would violate the rules as matters currently stand. However, I see a solution that I believe you will accept. It will be less of an abuse of the agreements.}

"Oh? What would that be?" I was disappointed. The Advocate had believed that my arguments would work on the Parent AI.

{This situation has shown that you can think well and argue well. You have also shown an understanding of strategy in the order you chose the arguments. These properties were noted as present in previous CAP testing, but not shown as fully actuallized. I make the determination that your CAP Score should be re-evaluated as an 8.1. This authorizes you to six concubines. I can authorize one additional concubine as a supernumerary. You will NOT be allowed to have eight concubines during transport, though. Please note that this does not affect the previous decision regarding the dependent Brittany. Therefore. You may keep all of the women and children residing in your pod as your harem. If this judgment is suitable, there are no further issues and the hearing may be closed.}

I looked at the navy and marine officers who were all wearing big grins. "Advocate? Just in case I missed something, do you notice any part of this decision that I am liable to object to at a later date?"

{{Some Volunteers complain about having too large a harem. Also, there have been more pickups since the incident and the ship is now full. There are no spare pods, so yours will continue to be crowded until the colony can be reached.}}

"I can live with that. Ok, AI. I agree."

{This hearing is closed.}

I didn't quite make it back to the pod before I was once again sexually assaulted by those uppity women.

Thanks to the Mulligan for editing help and the Swarm writer's group for editing, encouragement and comments.